


Beings of Coffee and The Night

by orphan_account



Series: JohnDave AU Where... [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: F/F, M/M, characters added when relevant to the story, im excited, other tags will be added when relevant to the story, rating will be bumped if neccessary, still excited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-03
Updated: 2015-05-26
Packaged: 2018-02-11 13:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 5,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2070561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dave Strider, by all accounts, is pretty average. Or at least until he happens upon this weird ass coffee shop. Suddenly, he's not very normal at all, despite that one chicks attempts to keep him that way. Sometimes you just have to unfurl your wings and fly. Not that Dave has any... that he knows of.</p><p> </p><p>JohnDave AU: Supernatural Coffee Shop</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Apocalypta Coffee

**Author's Note:**

> First fic, guys! Yay!

Dave Strider considers himself quite normal. Relatively, at least, because he collects dead things in jars, his music taste is just a tad bit obscure, and he has his camera strap around his neck at all times. Maybe he’s just a hipster? That’s probably the most apt description. Anyway, Dave is new in town. He moved into a dumpy apartment a week ago and he’s still moving in furniture. He doesn’t even have much. A futon, a mattress, cinderblocks that have seen better days, two, three, four lamps? Five shitty swords and one good katana, his turntables for God sakes, a shitty little TV, and of course the jars full of all the dead stuff.

Those are all his worldly possessions and he’s very, very proud. In a general sense. Because that’s actually sort of sad? Yeah.

Now, it’s just about ten pm and Dave doesn’t feel like staying inside and watching TV. So, he gets up and grabs his camera from the kitchen counter and with this he saunters outside, locking the door behind him. Since it’s dark and he doesn’t care enough, most of the pictures he takes are mysteriously shadowy and also a little sloppy. Sometimes he forgets to keep the flash on. By midnight, he’s got at least a hundred sloppy pictures he’ll have to delete once he gets home. By midnight, he realizes he’s horribly lost. Lost, and also it’s getting cold and he doesn’t even have a jacket on. Just a long sleeved shirt and jeans. The shirt is flimsy and the jeans have three holes on each leg.

Dave figures he’s a goner, or at least until he sees some red, green, purple blinking lights in his peripheral. So, he turns and yeah. That looks like a coffee shop. A…twenty-four hour coffee shop? That’s a first for him, considering he didn’t see it a second ago. So, he stumbles inside and he’s quite surprised to see its more nightclub than coffee shop. Apocalypta Coffee? Well, he can certainly see it. The patrons seem to be a mix of dystopian society and fairy tale. One guy, he’s sure, is completely hairy. Is that a guy made of slime? His sleep deprived mind is making stuff up. So, this is why he stands weary eyed at the entrance, trying to take all the bright colors in. At least it’s warm in here.

This is where he stays until someone notices him. A tall, willowy lady that seems to glide instead of walk. Her voice is low, some sort of accent. Not American. Nope.

“Are you new in town?” She asks, and Dave nods.

“Why don’t you sit?” She asks, gripping onto his forearm and leading him to a table. A booth specifically. She makes Dave slide in first, then she sits. Sitting next to Dave seems to be another slimy looking dude, a very hairy woman, covered head to toe in fur, and another lady who seems as human as him. They introduce themselves.

The lady that led you to the table is Kanaya Maryam.

The hairy lady is Jade Harley.

The non-hairy lady is Rose Lalonde.

The slimy guy is John Egbert. But Kanaya tells you this, because John is just sentient slime, and he doesn’t even have any organs. Thusly, no voice box. But he is learning sign language.

Dave asks many questions. The ladies skillfully deflect all of them and he’s starting to think there’s something off about the place. Then, a waitress comes around with four orders of coffee and Dave doesn’t care anymore. The coffee is just about the best he’s ever had. The best he’ll ever have. Future and past coffees will never, ever match up. Ever.  
Eventually, everyone is done with their coffee. After laughing about the shade of brown John is tinted to, Dave offers to pay for the coffee, but Kanaya shoos the idea away and says she has a tab. So it’s fine. Dave figures he can’t really argue or complain. But he finds it weird that a coffee shops could have tabs set up. This thought doesn’t linger long. Eventually, Kanaya gets up and leads Dave to the door. She lets him go, but whispers “You won’t come back.” And it sounds tempting, never coming back. Sleeping tonight and making this mysterious little coffee shop just a strange little one-off dream. But still, his feet feel compelled to leave. So, he lets them. Lets them lead him all the way home. It’s easy, just being compelled.

But his brain just won’t quit. The bright colors still fresh when he lays his head down on the pillow. Currently, it just might be the only thing he can trust in. The bright, bright neon colors.

And that’s just fine.


	2. Just Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave ruminates over the café a little. Then, he makes a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter. Yay!

The next day, Dave sleeps in. He didn’t expect the coffee shop from last night to still be dancing around his mind, so he looks it up. If some foreign girl is so adamant about keeping him away, it’s obviously got to be his next haunt. Or at least until it becomes to mainstream to stand and he has to move on. Oddly, there are no results whatsoever. Even if it didn’t seem too mainstream, the café still has to have a website, right? It’s a business. Dave finds himself still working through this new information as he crunches through his cereal then makes his bed. He showers and lightly styles his hair then changes into another one of his cool record shirts and jeans. This time, he brings along his jacket, because he’ll definitely be out all day, and it gets so cold so easily. He swipes up his camera again and leaves. This time he just deletes all the useless photos he took. When he comes back later tonight, he’ll think about making a dark room to develop all the photos he took. Dave isn’t actually sure why he hasn’t done that before.

He’s wrenched out his thoughts when he bumps into someone. He can briefly feel something slick and cool and not skin-like at all. He looks up and he’s surprised to see John. John looks quite surprised to be recognized, but Dave isn’t very sure if John even found his eyes. But John stops, seems to wait for him, as much as he can tell, since John can’t talk. So, Dave catches up and they walk together. He’s kind of confused that no one is reacting to John’s slimy state, but no one seems to be on the street. Which gets him even more confused. Must be a weird side street? No, not really. He’s seeing all sorts of nice Mom and Pop stores, but no one in them. Dave asks John about it, but the other just grins at him.  
Well, that didn’t answer the question at all. But John can’t even talk really, so what did he expect, really? At one point, John abandons you, but it looks like a main street, so that makes sense, he supposes. In a way that he can’t really wrap his head around, but really, can that be helped?

No, probably not.

Dave eventually ends up at a nice little playground. Children run to and fro around the medium sized structure and Dave parks his ass on a bench. He gets his phone out and searches up Apocalypta Coffee again. No results. Then, he lingers over to Pesterchum, even though he’s sure no one will answer. He’s sure his friends back home have abandoned it already, it was a pretty old app after all. But this doesn’t stop him from messaging someone anyway.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] at 13:30 –  
TG: terezi  
TG: hey terezi  
TG: are you there  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering gallowsCalibrator [GC] at 13:33 --

He supposes that since her reply wasn’t instantaneous, she must not use Pesterchum much anymore. Or maybe she just wasn’t there at the moment. Whatever it was, he didn’t get a reply, so he pockets his phone and looks back up. The children are still playing. Parents are positioned in prime position to best take care of their children if they get hurt. The only difference is the girl in the distance. The lady. Who kind of looks like the non-hairy one he met last night. Rose, he barely remembers. Whatever compulsion Kanaya put on him is working well, but he still resists. It would be easy to forget. To voluntarily let the recognition disappear from his eyes. To blink it out like sleep, but there’s something that’s not letting him. Some unknown purpose. Something metaphorical. But not in his way. Something different and important, yet boring, that’s still making him remember Rose Lalonde. But why?

He takes a picture of the swing set. He walks over, sets up the shot, and snaps the picture. He takes a picture of the big play structure. He takes a picture of the field and Rose is still there. Watching him. He doesn’t find it creepy, but it’s getting there. Eventually, the feel of her stare disappears and he looks up to find her gone. He doesn’t think much of it.

Not until later.

“Later” would be four, five, six hours later when he is at home again and Terezi still hasn’t pestered him back. She hasn’t even gone online. What an outrage really. Horrible. But this leaves him time to think about the coffee shop again. And by think, he means go, because they have the best coffee in the world. He makes sure to bring his jacket, but doesn’t bother getting his camera. He’s actually surprised that he doesn’t find it. But the place was a bit… off… And Kanaya told him to forget about it. So maybe all he has to do is… He blinks a few times… slaps his face a little, mumbles “Remember….Remember…” and very slowly, very slowly, the lights blink into view and he smirks in success. Beat that, foreign lady. So, he walks inside and is much more surprised to see that the crew isn’t there. The place is still as lively, probably always lively. He really likes it.

 

Surprisingly, there’s a booth that’s free and he sits down. Seems like it’s occupied though. By a really scaly guy. Dave speaks first.

“Whoops, so these seats aren’t taken, right?” He asks.

“…No.” The guy replies, it seems the resting stink face is permanent.

“My name is Dave, what’s yours?”

The guy makes weird, throaty sounds Dave couldn’t possibly translate. Whatever language it is, Dave sure isn’t familiar. Dave just gives him a helpless look, which the guy rolls his eyes. This makes Dave chuckle a bit.

“…So, could you repeat that?” He asks.

 

The guy chuckles a little. Then, he says,

“It’s Karkat Vantas.”

“You could have said that.” Dave replies, giving him another look.

“Well, you were the one intruding on my alone time.” It sounds like an accusation, but Dave can kind of tell that he’s joking. Kind of.

“So, can I offer to buy you some coffee, perhaps? Make up for my horrible offense?” Dave jokes, he’s getting up anyway.

“Get some of the pastries too.” Karkat calls.

Dave is pretty sure he’s never made friends this easy. Or at least, he thinks they’re friends, since they end up talking for the rest of the night about random things and sipping delicious, delicious coffee and sharing pastries. Nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's much longer than the first wow.  
> also forgive me friends i do not yet know how to do pesterchum text  
> forgive


	3. Birds, Birds, Birds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back!!!!
> 
> Sorry about that unfortunate and unexpected hiatus, like...
> 
>  
> 
> for a few months...
> 
> Feels good to be back!

                The next day is not much different. Take a bath, get dressed, pester Terezi and receive no reply, take a walk. Take a walk. Take a walk. Dave arrives, without even thinking about it, at a slightly shimmery smudge of a building. It’s only two p.m. and he’s on a side street. Maybe things will get clearer if he blinks a bit? Blink. Blink. Dave blinks at least five times, concentrating on the building. He is presented with the same slight shimmer and blur of the building. Strange. Maybe if he just… walks up to it…?

                Dave walks to the blurry building, quite confident it’s the strange coffee shop from yesterday. Or at least, he would, if this wasn’t turning out to be such a hard time. Every step feels heavy and like something is pushing against him. Excuse his French, but this is kinda a load of crock. But he makes it. Dave definitely makes it to the door. It doesn’t take five minutes and he doesn’t totally feel ridiculous walking against air. When he’s actually face-to-face with the café, it’s still blurry, but at least he can open the door.

                He’s expecting the café, but everything smells spicy and looks a bit too orange for his tastes. At the same moment, he notices all the feathers. And the dove sitting on a perch near his face. He turns the other way. More birds. So many birds. Too many to count. This is obviously not the café. No coffee, just cawing. No baristas, just birds. Of course, what really draws his attention is the… phoenix in the middle of the room. It’s large, graceful. Fire billowing around it, of course. He’s just wondering what this place is.

                “What is this place?” Well, he might as well ask it out loud. Even if it doesn’t answer anything. Dave walks around. More questions enter his head. Some like ‘Seriously, what is this place?’ or ‘Why so many birds?’ ‘Phoenix? What’s with that?’ and finally, ‘This place must go against soooo many health codes.’ But surprisingly there are no droppings in sight. So, someone has to be caring for these guys. Dave parks himself next to some parrots. They chatter to themselves and Dave kind of wonders if this is just a species-specific pet shop. That could be possible if it weren’t for the mythical bird thing sitting pretty in a fire pit in the middle of the room.

                Dave considers leaving, but that doesn’t look like an option, considering all the questions that are still in his head. He pesters Terezi for the second time today, he’s not sure if he imagined it or not, but did she quickly toggle online then back off again? It might just be a sign. But then again, he’s wearing sunglasses inside. Dave looks around the room. As orange as he saw walking in, there are gauzy orange drapes hanging over windows. Birds are there. Orange (and also a little yellow) couch things like those couch things therapists make you sit on. Birds are there. Orange standing lamps. Birds are near. Some plants, plant like, not very orange. Orange walls, orange tiles on the ground. He’s not really sure how someone could make this much orange work, but there are the occasional black accent.

                Not like any of that takes away from all the orange…..

               

                Dave gets up and starts walking around. As he gets further and further away from the entrance, the birds seem to disperse. Kinda weird. It also gets darker, like he’s going to some spooky back office. Manager from Hell or something.

                But as it turns out, there is an office back here. Something was stenciled onto the window of it, but that has peeled off ages ago, apparently. This leads Dave to wonder how old exactly this place might be. Dave knocks on the door. Once. Twice. Three times.

                No answer.

                Or at least, none immediately. He waits, almost expectantly for an answer for an entire minute. And then another. And then another until he turns away to leave. Just exit the strange bird place, until he hears a voice say

                “Come in.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyway, new character  
> no tags yet  
> maybe you guys can guess who it is???
> 
> you may be surprised  
> or you'll expect everything lol
> 
> also, lemme tell you, the johndave will come soon  
> not soon soon  
> but im thinking theres an arc here  
> like, the first half is introduce characters  
> try and figure out this magic stuff  
> second half is something is strange about dave lol and johndave  
> yep johndave
> 
> ((hmm this chapter is a lot shorter than the last tbh..  
> welp!! sometimes things work that way, i guess. i cranked this chapter out pretty late, so maybe thats to be expected
> 
> hope you enjoyed it, anyway))


	4. The Manager

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow, quite overdue, amirite? sorry guys, life caught up w/ me..

   You step into the office, it’s as shady as you thought it was, with only one lamp illuminating the wall and in turn, the desk chair turned away from you.  You would speak, but you’re very unsure if the voice has something they want to say to you.

   And they do.

   “So, what brings you too this office, David?” You hear a voice coming from the chair and you’re taken aback because this person knows your name. Your mind is only thinking about this so you take a while to answer.

    “Oh, uh… No reason in particular... I was looking for another place, and I accidently came across your office….” You say, a little stuck for words.

    And the chair turns, revealing a creature….? Who had a cue ball for a head, and was wearing an Italian three-piece suit.  You’re confused. This place is so orange, but this person doesn’t have a bit of orange on them.

   “Why is this place so orange?” You ask them.

   “I’m watching this place for a friend, I can’t stand the bright colors much either.” They say, annoyance in their tone. You assume they would be rolling their eyes… if they had a head…

   “You don’t have a head…?” You say, quite confused. The creature makes an annoyed sound.

   “You humans always say that… I don’t need to see like you do. I’m omnipotent. I can see all.” They reply, adding the last part like you don’t know what ‘omnipotent’ means. Well, you didn’t, but they didn’t need to be so rude about it…  You decide to say something else, because this creature is left ‘staring’ at you and you’re honestly getting really uncomfortable.

   “Was this place always here? Where is the coffee shop?” You ask, this creature would probably know, right?

    The creature shakes their head. “Your destiny doesn’t lie in going to the coffee shop right now. And I’m sure there are certain beings who would not want you going there.” You think this creature would be smirking knowingly. Kanaya comes to your mind and you nod.

    “So, why did I come here?” You ask.

    “Because, my friend had the overwhelming need to speak with you, but at the last minute, he had to… go out of town. I suppose he’ll be back some time, but in the meantime, he allowed me to speak a little with you. But not everything, he wants to talk with you personally about that.”

   Dave is taken a little aback, what would this creature’s…friend have to say to him, and how does this friend know him in the first place? He thinks about this new information, but something else is really bugging him.

   “Do you have a name?” Because this creature already knows his, they might as well even the playing field. If only a little.

   “Ah, I knew you would ask that eventually.” The creature gets up from their seat and holds his hand out to shake yours.

   “My name is Doctor Scratch, but most people just call me Doc.” They say.

   “’Most people’? You have other friends?” You ask incredulously, raising an eyebrow.

   “This is no time to be rude, David.” They say, and you can tell they’re unamused and you laugh, a little quietly.

   “And there is a more pressing matter at hand. I’ll just leave it to a sentence, my friend would be mad if I divulged anything more.”

    So, you wait for Doc to drop the bombshell. Or whatever.

    “Well, Dave Strider… You are… a supernatural being.”

 

    Wait, what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "WHAT ARE YOU DOING MOTHERFUCKERS?"  
> it was.... DOC SCRATCH!!


	5. The Street

    Wait, what?

   “Wait, really?” You ask, shocked to high heck.

    “Really.” Doc says, calm as a cucumber.

    “Really, really?” You ask.

    “Really, re- You know what, I’m not going into this and I won’t explain anything more. I have just said that my friend is eager to tell you the rest and I’m not going to break his heart, so you’re going to wait.” Doc replies, his tone is even, but also a little annoyed. Okay, then. That’s it then.

   “Alright, Doc,” You say, “How long do I have to wait?” Because you’re shocked and you don’t want to be kept hanging like this.

   Scratch seems to be thinking. “Four weeks.” They say, and you exclaim.

    “What!? Why?” You clench your fists a little.

    “Something is blocking me from telling you more. This doesn’t happen, so we’ll both have to wait.” They reply, obviously a voice of reason. You roll your shaded eyes. They seem to make an amused sound. Yeah, okay, whatever.

   “Yeah, okay, whatever. I’m leaving.” You say, making a huffy sound afterwards and furrowing your eyebrows. The day you find out you’re some kinda supernatural creature and this souped-up cue ball can’t even tell you anything about it. You stomp out of there and Doc laughs at you a little.

    You didn’t like him, anyway.

    Okay, maybe you’re lying. The omniwhatever powers are kinda cool, you guess… So, you stomp, past the birds, past the phoenix, past all the orange and you exit. You are surprised to find out how much time has passed. Night has already fallen and you’re convinced that place must be the Twilight Zone or something.

    You decide to go home.

    You eat some cereal then change for bed.

    The next day, you do not bother pestering Terezi. If she still used it, she would message you back. With all your insistent pestering, anyway.  Instead, you get ready for the day. When showering, you notice something… quite odd. A single feather is on the shower floor, you pick it up and study it. It is quite slick from the water, and it is a gradient of dark orange to creamsicle yellow. Quite interesting. But also sort of weird? Where did that come from?

    Something in your gut is telling you this is important somehow, so you hold onto it, stuffing it in the pocket of your jeans when you feel like going out.

    You wander, as you usually do, trying to go to that one weird street. The one with all the supernatural weirdo stuff.  It takes a long time, because everything gets really blurry when you turn a certain way, but you fight it and everything gets clearer. Cool.

    The street also seems to be very busy today and that makes you happy. Everyone you see is very receptive and they all say hi to you.

    You see John again and you almost trip over yourself running to him, and he gurgles at you when he sees. You finally catch up to him and he waves at you and smiles. You ask him how he’s doing and he gives you a thumbs up. A small smile is allowed to grace your face. You ask him if you can follow him around for a bit and he doesn’t seem to mind. Maybe following him will let you get into places better? Who knows? Let’s test this theory out.

    But anyway, you follow him around. He doesn’t do a lot, really. And he gets around slowly, since he’s made out of slime, but that’s understandable. You stop by a little pet shop. You see mini dragons and other creatures, including less mythical things like cats and dogs.

    You also stop by a cramped book store, almost filled to the brim with tomes and stuff, you want to buy a book, but John seems eager to leave.

    You find out why when you come across a standard magic shop. Like, card magic. John practically wets his pants in excitement. Well, they technically already were. He’s made of slime, after all.

    You also chat with John a little, your talk limited to things John can reply to by nodding, shaking his head, or miming something.

   This is alright with you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let's talk about theories! :0!!


	6. The Boyfriend Dilemma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as in, friend thats a boy, you cheeky minxes ;))
> 
> (but really show of hands, who got excited?)

    You spend the entire day with John and you are no closer to figuring out how exactly to talk with him. Miming and yes/no questions can only take you so far. You kinda wanna know about him. Like, what he does all day and how often does he hang out with the scary vampire lady, and how he even exists? How is he alive? What makes him work?

    John always seems eager to answer the non-yes/no questions, but of course, they run into problems. One day where the two of them hang out proves that John can’t even hold a pencil without it A.) Falling out of his grip, or B.) Sinking into his slime. Honestly, Dave’s not even sure how to even go about this. A few ideas he considers, but then he realizes how they wouldn’t even work. Until, one day, when Dave and John hang out again over at Jade’s house, since John lives there and Jade doesn’t really seem to mind Dave at all, John comes up with a bright idea.

    Dave was doodling on a whiteboard, bought for a failed idea (‘What if I tried to read your mind?’ He’s not sure what he was thinking either…) when John comes over and gestures for Dave to stick the marker into his hand. Or at least, that’s what Dave is getting from the gesturing. So, he does, and John tries writing on the whiteboard a bit. It’s pretty successful, but John’s handwriting is uneven and messy and half the time just looks like squiggles, so Dave goes to hold the marker, just so John’s writing can be steady.

    The idea is all over successful. John is making a pretty happy expression and drawing little happy faces on the board.

    “Well, I guess that’s a good idea.” You say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, that was kinda short? but i needed to get an update out at some point right??? :00
> 
> let's talk headcanons now (and also theories? and also questions? yes yes good)


	7. A Job Search

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jsyk this IS gonna be endgame johndave  
> yes, i forgot too...

    It has been weeks, but not since he last hung out with John. They do that often. Usually sometimes on the weekends, because on the week Dave looks for a job. The money he inherited from Bro’s job can only last so long. It would be pretty bad if his money ran out before he could get himself a secure job. So, he’ll start small. Maybe he could be a barista or something? He went to college to major in music making, but he hasn’t done much of that when he got out and he’s not sure if he will soon. He’s unsure how it could work out, but he could probably invite John over so he could watch Dave use his turntables.

    How would he get John there without causing suspicion? Maybe he could get John is some Tupperware and pretend that he’s Jell-O? How would he convince John to get in the Tupperware, anyway? He doesn’t suppose it would be too hard if he asked nice enough, but he’s sure John would look at him funny.

    Dave thinks a bit about this and realizes he’s getting wildly off-topic. Back to the current task at hand. A job. Maybe that Apocalypta place is hiring? That would be groovy, actually. Because he could get free coffee and theirs is delicious.

    So, it’s settled. Dave will try to wrangle a job.

    Somehow.

    When he and John hang out again, Dave brings up all his job stuff.

    “I’m thinkin’ about gettin’ a job at Apocalypta,” Dave starts. John knows what he’s talking about and gestures for Dave to stick the marker in his hand so he can write. Dave looks at John’s words upside down, then when John’s done, he picks up the board.

_‘do you know if they’re hiring?’_

    “Nah, haven’t been there in a while, so I can’t say for sure, but I’m hopeful.” Dave replies, shrugging as he wipes off the board so John can write something else.

_‘that seems a little silly. what if they don’t have any openings? the place didn’t seem very understaffed the last time i was there…’_

    “Who knows? Maybe we should go now, just to be sure. I have a résumé. I carry it with me everywhere, so, whatever.” His shoes are at Jade’s front door, she’s a werewolf, so maybe you’d expect her to be a bit more lax on getting mud in the house, but even werewolves have their standards…

    John gets up too. You grab the whiteboard, while John lets the marker sink into his hand (for safe-keepings).

    And you go to the coffee shops. It’s a block down the street, because Jade lives in a more supernatural-inclusive area. It’s very nice and you’re reeling because you never knew any of this existed a month ago. Life is interesting, and it becomes more so every day.

    You two arrive at the shop in record time. You look at the shop and there aren’t even any ‘Hiring’ signs, but the way here made you get a tiny headache and blurry vision, so you might as well live on a prayer at this point. You open the door, letting John in first while you go in after him. You walk up to the counter with John, since it isn’t busy, and you let John order something for the both of you, since you want to talk to one of the baristas.

    The first guy you see is a cyclops. Or maybe a Minotaur? But all you know is that he’s got bull horns and one single eye in the middle of his face. You look at his nametag, ‘Tavros’. Well, you suppose you could probably work with that…

    You put on your game face which is covered by your shades, but it’s the thought that counts. You clear your throat and ask if they’re hiring. You tell the barista you’ve got a résumé and he tells you you’ll need to speak with the manager.

    That’s fine with you.

    So, then the manager comes out and you get a good look at his face, and you can immediately tell that this is Doc’s friend. But something else makes him familiar to you.

    “Oh, it’s nice to see you here, Dave. I’ve wanted to talk to you for a while. Would you mind walking with me?”

    You turn to John who doesn’t look like he minds and even makes lighthearted shooing motions at you.

    You turn back to the Manager and you two start walking.

    And then you realize why he seems so familiar.

    “Bro?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))  
> Baby's first cliffhanger...


	8. Alive from Dead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one goes out 2 my most loving fan Luvlylexy  
> ur the best

    You sit there, in your older brother’s office. The look of shock is clear on your face, even with the shades on. Your brother only stares, silently.

    “I...I thought you died…” You say, quietly. And you know he did. You had the displeasure on walking in on him getting stabbed through the chest by some hitman. You had the obligation of holding him as he passed. You felt the breath leave his lungs and you saw the life drain out his eyes, yet here he is. Same shades, same face. Alive. And you almost get angry, but you don’t want to start anything in a public space. You just want answers.

    “Did you really die?” You ask him, taking off your shades, so he can realize you’re serious. He takes off his own as red eyes stare at orange ones.

    “Not…not exactly,” This is the first time you’ve ever heard Bro hesitate and it makes you afraid. But you wait for him to continue.

    “For a few months, I was pursued by these…hunters. I kept it a secret from you since you weren’t ready to know yet. You were still young. That day when I got stabbed, it wasn’t anything to actually kill me. Maybe a knife dipped in some magic thing that makes people go into comas. But I guessed it mimicked death, because I certainly didn’t feel like I was just fainting either. I felt you holding me, I heard you cry, but the next thing I know, I’m in an abandoned warehouse on the other side of town and it felt like it was months…” Bro pauses for a moment, so you speak up.

    “Bro. Bro…what are you? What are we?” You ask, quietly, like you’re a kid again. You feel small, sitting across from him.

    “I can’t tell you yet. Not yet. I have to be sure it’s true.” He says, looking away for a moment.

    You look at the lamp on the desk and you have a great need to change the subject…

    “I’m looking for a job…” You mumble, deciding to look at him again.

    “You’re hired.” He replies, not even stopping to think about it.

    You stand up and hug your brother, pretending that you’re not crying as he rubs your back and whispers reassuring words to you.

   Maybe you’ll be okay, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :))  
> lets talk...  
> theories now!!  
> specifically abt bro and also terezi


	9. We Find Something Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay!! an update!!

    You go through your daily routine the next day, the underlying sadness that always seemed to be beneath you is stripped away for once. Today, you’re going to hang out with your older brother and you’re so happy that you get to think a thought like that. You thought he was dead for years. Once you get dressed, you walk to Apocalypta with some kind of renewed vigor. It’s not as blurry when you walk down the street and you can admit that your headache lasted about a minute.

    Walking in, you notice the vampire lady, Kanaya, you’re sure, stare at you, but you deign to ignore her because literally nothing can ruin your mood at the current moment in time. You go to the counter and order a coffee, sitting a ways away from Kanaya and Rose, you guess, as you wait for Bro to go on break. The two of you can chill out for thirty minutes together as he possibly tells you what even is going on.

    So, you wait. At least Bro goes for a break before you finish your coffee. You get up and wait by the door. When, he gets there, the two of you walk out and catch up for a long time. This is at least 15 years of not even knowing the other was still around. You tell him about college, he tells you what happened after he woke up. He walked out of the place without trouble, even though movies would tell him he would’ve been attacked by ninjas or something. He had worked on trying to figure out what had happened for the last few months. Either he was in a coma or on autopilot.

    “So…what are we?” You ask. Because you’re really dying to know, eager enough to interrupt him when he’s telling you about his current boyfriend, one Jake English who’s a werewolf.  He glares at you for a moment, probably upset because you interrupted him telling you how cute Jake’s 115th strand of hair looked. Or something like that, you weren’t really paying attention.

    “I’m still telling you about my boyfriend.” He says, and you can tell he’s annoyed because his voice gets all strained.

    “Well, that’s the thing. I don’t really care right now.” You reply, tone easy, some sort of smirk on your face.

    You can kinda tell he rolled his eyes right then.

    “From what I figured out, just shifters. But only into birds for whatever reason.” He replies.

    “Were-birds?”

    “Shut the fuck up, David.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the truth is out
> 
> (can someone give me another au idea??)


End file.
